Scalding-vat.



No. 641,020. Patented Jan. 9, H900.

.1. w. KOHLHEPP. SCALDING VAT.

(Application filed Feb. 2, 1898.)

(No Model.)

THE NORRIS PETERS co., PHoYauTna. wAs omoTon. n. c.

Ilnrrnn JOHN W. KOHLI-IEPP, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

SCALDING- -VAT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 641,020, dated January9, 1900. Application filed February 2, 1898. $eria1 No. 668,818. (Nomodel.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JOHN W. KOHLHEPP, a citizen of the United States,residing at Ohicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Scalding-Vats, of whichthe following is a full, clear, and exact specification.

My invention relates to vats for scalding the carcasses of animals,suchas hogs, preparatory to scraping the hair therefrom; and it has for itsprimary object to provide means whereby the animal may be kept in motionor at least ejected from the vat before it has had opportunity to burnor cook.

Another object of my invention is to hold the animal entirely immersedwhile passing through the vat.

With these ends in view my invention consists in certain features ofnovelty in the construction, combination, and arrangement of parts bywhich the said objects and certain other objects hereinafter appearingare attained, all as fully described with reference to the'accompanyin gdrawings, and more particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the said drawings, Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinal section of myimproved scalding- Vat, and Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional viewthereof.

In carrying out my invention I employ a tub or vat 1 for containing thescalding water and in which the animals are deposited. Arranged in thebottom of this vat is an endless carrier 2, consisting of a beltcomposed of a number of cross-slats 3 or constructed in any othersuitable or well-known way and running over a pair of shafts 4 5, theshafts, if desired, being each provided with one or more sprocket wheels6 7, which engage with sprocket-chains 8, to which the slats 3 aresecured. This endless carrier constitutes a traveling false bottom forthe vat 1, and upon it or above it the hogs are deposited. One end ofthe endless carrier is depressed in the vat or arranged near the bottom,as clearly shown in Fig. 1, while the other end is carried upwardly, soas to extend above the water-line, the direction of travel of the upperside of the carrier being toward its upper end, so that the hogs restingthereon will be continuously conveyed upwardly and landed at the upperend of the carrier out of the water and in convenient reach of theattendant, who thereupon removes the animal or attaches it to the usualtraveling conveyor or other device employed for conveying slaughteredanimals to different points of operation in a slaughter-house. Locatedabove the lower or immersed end of the conveyer 3 is a shield 9, which,if desired, may be hinged at 10 to the upper end of the vat 1, and it isarranged at a slight incline, so as to cover the space between the endof the vat and the carrier, and thus prevent the shanks of the animalfrom becoming caught in such space, while at the opposite end of the vatis located a la ble 11, which projects slightly over the end of thecarrier for preventing the animals shanks from following the carrieraround into the space at the end of the vat and also for constituting asupport for the animal when ejected from the vat.

In scalding animals it is found that some of them sink to the bottom ofthe vat, and if allowed to remain in one position and in contact withthe heated bottom or other surface they cook or burn, while others willfloat at or near the surface of the water and often project partiallytherefrom, so that their backs and other partsare not fully scalded.With a vat equipped with my traveling conveyer, however, it will be seenthat those which sink to the bottom will be kept in motion and heldaloof from the bottom of the vat and gradually worked toward thelanding-table 11, thus also making room at the feeding end of the vatfor the introduction of more animals.

In order that the vat may have means for holding those which mightotherwise float fullyimmersed in the scalding solution and at the sametime kept in motion so as to make room for others, I provide the top ofthe vat with a series of traveling arms or fingers which move toward theexit end and which serve not only the aforesaid purpose of holding theanimals immersed and keeping them in motion, but also of acting, inconjunction with the conveyer 3, for ejecting the animals up onto thetable 11. In accomplishing this I employ a pair of endless belts orchains 12, arranged longitudinally of the vat and on each side andhaving a number of cross bars or slats 13, to which latter are securedany desired number of fingers or arms 14, which, as the chains 12revolve, project downwardly into the vat and hold the animals fullyimmersed while advancing them toward the exit end of the apparatus, thearms 14 being preferably curved slightly in the direction of travel, soas to better engage the animals. If desired, the spaces between theslats or bars 13 may be supplied with a number of similar slats 15,arranged sufficiently close together to prevent the shanks or othermembers of the animals from projecting upwardly between the chains andbecoming engaged with the operating mechanism.

The shafts 16, which carry and revolve the sprocket-wheels 17, uponwhich the chains 12 travel, are preferably journaled in and constitute apart of a frame 18, one of the side members of which is hinged at 19 toone side of the vat 1, so that when desired this hinged frame, togetherwith the series of traveling arms or fingers 14, may be turned back outof the way.

The sprocket-Wheels 6 and 7,-which carry the endless conveyer 3, may bedriven in any suitable way. It is preferable to drive both positively,so that the conveyer will retain substantially the bowed shape orposition shown in Fig. 1. I have shown the sprocket Wheels connectedtogether by sprocket-chain 20, one of the shafts 4 5 being driven bycrank or by belt from any suitable source of power. (Not shown.) Motionfrom one of the shafts 4 5 may be transmitted to one of the shafts 16 bysprocket-chain 21 for driving the series of traveling arms or fingers14, as will be understood.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new therein, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A device for scalding carcasses having in combination a scalding vat,an endless traveling false bottom in said vat extending from the pointof introduction for the carcasses to the point of exit, and a series oftraveling pushers and depressors arranged at the upper part of said vatover said false bottom and moving in the same direction as the upperfold of said false bottom, for depressing the carcasses toward thebottom and accelerating their advancing movement, whereby the carcasseswill be held immersed in the scalding fluid and at all times aloof fromthe bottom of the scalding-vat and at the same time advanced through thevat, substantially as set forth.

2. A device for scalding carcasses having in combination a scalding-vatprovided with a traveling false bottom extending from end to end thereofand having the greater part of its length at one end substantiallyhorizontal and its other end inclined upwardly, the space above thesurface of the said false bottom being unobstructed to permit thecarcasses to move along with the bottom, and means located in the upperpart of the vat and moving with the false bottom for depressing thecarcasses below the surface of the scalding liquid, substantially as setforth.

3. A device for scalding carcasses having in combination a scalding-vat,an endless traveling carrier located near and covering the bottom ofsaid vat in a substantially horizontal position and havingits upper foldslack and its lower fold taut, the upper fold for the greater part ofits length at one end being substantially level or horizontal and theother end being upwardly inclined, and a horizontal series of travelingpusher-fingers arranged over the horizontal portion of said carrier,substantially as set forth.

4. A device for scalding carcasses having in combination a scalding-vat,an endless traveling carrier arranged at the bottom of said vat andextending from end to end thereof, one end of said carrier beingupwardly inclined, and a series of traveling fingers or pushers arrangedin the upper part of the vat over the intermediate part of said carrierand being of less length than the carrier so as to leave a space betweenthe carrier and both ends of said series of fingers, for the entranceand exit respectively of the carcasses, substantially as set forth.

JOHN W. KOHLHEPP.

Witnesses:

EDNA B. JOHNSON, F. A. HOPKINS.

